Later in the month, Courtney followed with these notes:
My experience with sewing machines has been quite varied this month. It started about three weeks ago. It was a HOT (102) Saturday, and my wife and I had gone out for a fast-food lunch. On our way home we stopped at a garage sale. (always dangerous!) They had a 1948 Singer 201 in a no. 42 Art Deco cabinet. They wanted $100 so I kept looking. When I came back, I realized that they were selling everything at half price, so I spent my $50. It is in good shape although I will have to rewire the potted motor. The drawers were full of things:
1) all the attachments and screwdrivers
2) a buttonholer, an additional set of templates and a pair of buttonhole scissors
3) a number of old bobbins, binding tape, safety pins, etc.
4) a large envelope with all the materials for a Singer Sewing Skills class (6 lessons)
5) an old bottle of Singer sewing machine oil. The oil is oxidized but the bottle is in great shape.
6) 12 measure-clip hemmers (new in package) which I think will be useful in quilting.
Next came a Baby Lock Companion 7500 Intel-A-Stitch. It is a computer machine which I usually try to avoid. However, a friend who regularly uses a Singer 237 Fashion Mate which she loves because it just always works, was daydreaming once about the new machines which do automatic buttonholes, fancy stitches and even alphabets at just a touch of a button. This described the Baby Lock 7500 exactly. So, when I found it for only $16, I thought I had to buy it for her. It seems to be working well and I have to admit that making little flowers or spelling my name with just a push of the button is lots of fun. The machine is 30 years old, and I am sure replacement parts are impossible to find but for $16 dollars she can just pitch it when it dies. Finding a manual online was just about impossible but I finally found one for a Brother Compal Opus 845 which is basically the exact same machine.
Finally, an old librarian friend contacted me a year ago to see if I could help her with her mother's machine, a 1949 New Home NLB. I said that we could probably get is going again but did not hear from her until a couple of weeks ago. I was afraid that it would take a complete re-wiring but most of the wiring seemed to be in acceptable condition except the power cord. The power cord had rotted away and become stiff and brittle. Bare wire was showing in a number of places. Unfortunately, the female end was proprietary and is no longer available. I took the old cord home and cut the end off with a couple of inches of the original cord on it and then spliced a new cord on. I should work safely for a time. While I was working on the cord, I noticed I had some newer electrical connectors, which did not look like the original, looked like it might fit. I made up a second cord with the new connector. Since the New Home was a friction drive, I also ordered her a new drive pulley to replace the old flattened one. Now I will have to find a time I can get back down to Castle Rock (93 miles away) to see if my work will bring her mother's old machine back to life.
Hope everyone is having a great summer.
Courtney
)
Lastly, Courtney sent this:
I almost forgot. I dropped by the local ARC thrift store Thursday and found two Singer Automatic Zigzaggers and 3 additional sets of cams, all for $15. Both zigzaggers were low shank and will fit my new 201 and my featherweights. I think the additional cams were worth much more than I paid for everything.
Once again, hope you are all enjoying the summer.
Courtney
John
John got a bit of a surprise while looking at a tech site on the web, which he tells about
:
I frequently look over a site called 'The Verge' to follow developments in the tech industry. Being a little youth-challenged, I like to try to keep up with the latest smart phones, computers and processors, gaming and audio/video equipment. I was surprised to see, as I scrolled down the page, an article about sewing patterns. I had to blink and look at whether something had jumped off of Janey's screen and onto mine.
The article described a collection and database of archived sewing patterns, being treated as a reflection of these past technologies. I shared it with Janey and I will here, too. Some may find the collection interesting. It is called the COPA Pattern Archive. This site has been noted before elsewhere on the forum, but I'm mentioning it for those who might not yet have seen it. The web link is:
https://copa.apps.uri.edu/index.php
In Closing
We hope that everyone is having the same good summer that we are having here in Colorado. We will post here again next month. Thanks to our contributing members and to all who read.